English
vouch
Vouch comes from Middle English vouchen ‘to call, summon’, from Latin vōx ‘voice, speech’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘speech, voice’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx‘voice, speech’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocoas vocāre‘to call, summon’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vocicāre‘to call’reconstructed
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vocher
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vouchen‘to call, summon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1531vouch
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*wekʷ-‘to speak’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*wṓkʷs‘speech, voice’reconstructedo-grade root noun of *wekʷ-
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*wōks‘voice’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvōx‘voice, speech’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEvocoas vocāre‘to call, summon’
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*vocicāre‘to call’reconstructed
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400vocher
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500vouchen‘to call, summon’
- Englishearliest quotation 1531vouch
Earliest quotation: 1531, Thomas Elyot, Of Experience whiche haue Preceded Our Tyme, with a Defence : “But the most catholike and renoumed doctours of Christes…”
The story
The verb is derived from Middle English vouchen (‘to call, summon; to provide; to make available, proffer; to affirm, declare formally’) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman vocher, voucher, woucher, and Old French vocher, voucher, vochier (‘to call, summon; to claim; to call upon, invoke; to denounce’) [and other forms], from Vulgar Latin *vocicāre, derived from Latin vocāre (‘to call, summon; to call upon, invoke; to designate, name; to bring or put (into a condition or state’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- (‘to sound out; to speak’). Verb sense 8.1 (‘to summon (someone) into court to establish a warranty of title to land’) in the form vouch to warrant or vouch to warranty is a calque from Anglo-Norman and Old French voucher a garant.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- ‘to speak’
epic, wight, whit, epos, 30 more
through Proto-Italic *wōks ‘voice’
vocalist, voiceless, vocally, vocalize, 26 more
through Latin vōx ‘voice, speech’
voice, vocal, vox, invocation, vociferous, 26 more
through Latin voco ‘to call, summon’
invite, invitation, advocate, vocational, vie, provocative, provoke, invoke, provocation, vocation, irrevocable, provocateur, revocable, 30 more
Today it means
verb To call on (someone) to be a witness to something.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *wekʷ- / vouch